WholeHeartedLife

A Quick, Not A.D.D. Driven...

2009-12-18T12:11:19-05:00

...Friday post!!! I know that I am always acknowledging that my A.D.D. is kickin' on Friday's, but today, it's not - but I AM!! I am slammed as we pull close to the big Christmas weekend.

Not only am I slammed but I am pumped! We are going to have amazing Christmas services this weekend - here is what I would like for you to know:

I encourage you to invite some friends! Statistics show that more people attend church on Christmas and Easter than any other time of the year. If you have non-church attending friends invite them to hyde park! We promise that if you bring them we will share the Good News of Christmas with them!
Get here EARLY!!! You will not want to miss a moment of this weekend's worship experience!
Sunday Nite is our Christmas Nite of Worship - 6PM. If you weren't planning to come I encourage you to join us for this wonderful Sunday before Christmas experience.
Hyde Park Band and Choir: If you are part of the worship band and choir: one last rehearsal Sunday afternoon at 4pm
Wear your Christmas Colors - let's make this place bright Sunday.
Pray. Pray that lives will be changed, that directions will be altered, that life-decisions will be placed before God. Pray that Pastor would be filled with the power of Jesus to bring the words that God uses to change lives.

I cannot wait to be with all of you - it's gonna be a glorious weekend.

Does God Still Speak through Dreams?

2009-12-15T08:29:39-05:00

In Sunday's message I preached from Matthew 1:18-25 where Joseph finds out that his "wife" (they were actually betrothed) is pregnant though they had never been together as husband and wife. Joseph, ready to divorce her quietly, changes his mind when the angel of the Lord comes to tell him what is really going on (and that she's not lying and, by the way, is carrying the Messiah). Joseph, upon waking, does exactly as the angel commanded in the dream.

One of the WholeHearted readers asked an excellent question: Do you believe that God speaks to us today thru dreams? Here was my response:

"To answer your question, I do believe God CAN speak to us through dreams, however, I believe that a dream would be supplemental to the word of God. What I mean is, God speaks in so many ways (people, circumstances, issues) but He HAS spoken through His Word and continues to do so. If God uses a dream it would be (my opinion) in addition to the Word. I would never base a decision or even an action upon a dream alone for that would be an unwise action . The Word of God is the only 100% reliable voice of God."

I think that at times people try to look to everything and anything they can find to answer their spiritual and life questions without consulting the one thing that they know they can count on: the Word of God - if you truly seek God through the filter of His Word He will never send you in the wrong direction.

Thanks for the excellent question.

This IS NOT a Sunday Nite on a Monday Post

2009-12-14T12:07:54-05:00

Our God takes things that appear to be irrational and makes them appear rational.

In yesterday's message I tackled the supernatural aspect of following God (we studied that from here). In the story Joseph was about to divorce Mary, whom he thought had been unfaithful to him during their engagement; that is until God intervened:

behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit." (Matt 1:20)

I don't know how open Joseph was to the supernatural in the beginning; the story that his wife was telling him was certainly "supernatural" but his life experience told him that it wasn't true. I think that we have all allowed our life experience to occasionally influence our decisions. Once Joseph had the dream the crazy story was no longer so irrational, it had in fact become quite rational.

It's not like the angel took away all of the issues: Joseph was still going to have to deal with the fact that people knew that his wife, whom it was said that he had not slept with, was pregnant - people would still talk, right? The step that Joseph was to take would still take faith, right? What would he tell people when they asked why he changed his mind about divorcing Mary? "I had this dream..." - that in itself seemed irrational. But God, through the angel, took all of the major questions away from Joseph, enough so, that Joseph was willing to walk in the decision to take Mary as his wife and raise the young Jesus as his own son.

Joseph opened his heart to God, to the supernatural - he couldn't explain it, he didn't know what it all meant, BUT HE BELIEVED.

Once you open your heart to the things of God, once you open your heart to Him and tell Him that you are prepared to believe, He will flood your heart with belief and all of a sudden the irrational seems rational - WHY? Because you are no longer looking through the eyes of life's experiences, but rather, you are viewing life through the eyes of faith.

What if...

...we were the type of followers of Jesus who were truly open to the things of the Spirit in such a way that whenever God told them to do something THEY DID! Knowing that, EMMANUEL (God is with us - God is with you), are you willing to do whatever God tells you to do.

Believing About vs. Walking In

2009-12-03T08:50:19-05:00

Have you ever made a really bold, God-led statement concerning something you felt God had been telling you only to come to the realization, "oh CRAP!!! Now that I have publicly declared that I have to actually follow through!" I have discovered that there is a big difference between believing something about God and actually living out that belief.

This thought came yesterday as I read in Ezra 8 - as Israel was beginning their journey back to Jerusalem after 70 years in captivity Ezra suddenly realizes the truth of their situation (v.21-23)

There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions. I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, "The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him." So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer.

I love this - Ezra, the great teacher of the law of God whom God used to reveal the truth once again to His wayward nation realizes that He has made much of God - so much so that he is ashamed to request protection for their long and dangerous journey. They fasted and prayed (v.23) and God answered.

Awesome! The problem you and I often have with this: that was Ezra from the bible and you're "you" (and I'm "me"). People in the bible are supposed to do stuff like that, right? Believing about and walking "in" are two different things.

Two scenarios I have personally encountered - one victoriously, the other not so much. In the first scenario God shared with me something that He wanted to do among my congregation and it was big; so big that there was no way that we could do it if He didn't step in. I told the people what I felt God was leading - many were ready (like the Israelites signing up to return to Jerusalem - Ezra 1:5). There were also those whom the vision was a little much, a little too big. I'll never forget the leader who shared with me that he didn't want me to fail - maybe I should back off this vision. I told him that I was confident in God's leadership but would seek the Lord one final time because of his concern. I did - God confirmed once again this was His will - we moved forward and watched Him literally work out Ephesians 3:20 in our midst.

In the second scenario God revealed a plan to me, a vision, that would not only affect our church in a major way; the plan that He revealed to me would literally initiate a change our region in the area of the local church. I was confident this was from the Lord - it BURNED within me!!! I shared it with some trusted leaders and friends - they also were compelled by what God had revealed. There was one major issue: it was big (BIG!!HUGE!!!) and our church was exploding with growth - so much so that it was hard to imagine more (especially as big as this plan was). We were understaffed and overworked not to mention the fact that our budget was being stretched by all that was happening in our midst.

I felt very confident that the plan was from God - the challenge was that the vision was just so big and I was SO stressed and didn't feel I could handle anymore. As much as I tried to bury the vision it wouldn't let me go. I was having a crisis about the plan/vision: how could we, with all that was happening pull this off? Rather than do what Ezra did (gather the people/fast/pray) I remember making the decision in an overwhelmed moment that maybe this vision was not "for now" but at a time when we could better handle/finance such a work.

Today I have realized my mistake: I had way too much faith in me, our staff, volunteers and leaders and not enough faith/dependency on the Giver of the vision. I have also come to recognize that the vision was for then and I missed the opportunity to see an Acts-like movement because I didn't have the faith/obedience to follow through.

Your willingness to walk in faith on something that God has revealed to you reveals the depth of your belief in Him: is He capable? Able? Do you REALLY believe? If so, now it's time to walk IN that belief.

What Do You Lose First?

2009-12-01T05:52:00-05:00

I don't think I have to convince any of you of the importance of personal worship. We know that God has called us to worship Him. With that in mind, do you find it strange that one of the first things to go is worship?

I have personally noticed that when I begin to stray from the Lord one of the first things that I do is cut-down the amount of time I spend in relationship with Jesus. It's never on purpose - I don't see it happening (if I did I would stop and correct, right?) but when I recognize what has happened and look back I see it plain as day.

As I recently read I was struck by a particular passage of scripture found in the first few chapters of the book of Ezra. After Israel continued over and over in disobedience God raised up Babylon to conquer them and take them into captivity - mostly removing them from their homes and all that was familiar to them that they might live in the land of the Babylonians.

Why did this happen to God's people? Because the people had stopped worshiping Him and found themselves moving further and further from Him. Israel moved from the protective arms of their Everlasting Father and eventually fell into the arms of disobedience and sin.

When you stray from the One you worship you may be removed from the place of comfort you once worshiped Him in.

When their punishment was ending He raised up a king, from Persia no less, to recognize in His heart that the Hebrews should be released, return to their homeland and rebuild God's temple. So those who felt moved to return and make that work happen did so (Ezra 1:5) thus preparing the way for God's people to return to Him.

I once read that the fact that God began His restoration of Israel with the rebuilding of the temple underscores the priority of worship. Worship is never be an something to be used our considered lightly; worship is not simply a "warm-up" for the "real meat" of preaching. Worship is our respond to all that God has done on our behalf.

Our personal worship matters to God and I think we need to take our gathering seriously. We NEED Him, we need His presence - not the other way around.

God, quicken our hearts that we not stray from the our need to deeply connect with You.

Sunday Nite (on a Monday Morning)

2009-11-30T12:16:33-05:00

Was yesterday actually the Sunday after Thanksgiving at hyde park! I couldn't really tell as we had such a great gathering before the Lord. The Sunday after Thanksgiving has traditionally been a VERY off weekend as we have so many people who travel for the holiday - call it the economy, call it faith... I myself was very pleased!

So here's what you missed if you weren't with us:

Yesterday's music was led by the group, "Sisters", who came to us from Spartanburg, SC. The group, which is made up of sisters Kim Lord, Heather Day and Valerie Ellenburg, are actually the combination of the groups LordSong and their lifelong family group, The Ruppes. It was great to have them with us - they were great - their harmonies are unbelievable!
Check out their music if you didn't have the opportunity to go to their table yesterday.
I brought yesterday's message, titled "Cleaning House", as Pastor Dennis is on vacation.
The message was based on Matthew 23:25-28 and was based on some thoughts I had as I thought through the implications aimed not JUST at the Scribes and Pharisees of Jesus' day but also at myself...
...you see, I am a Recovering Pharisee.
I had a friend who asked me the following question after the second service: "How does a person know whether they are a Pharisee or a Recovering Pharisee"? I had not really thought about it but off the cuff my answer was something like this: "A recovering pharisee understands that they have the tendency to be judgmental and legalistic and is calling out to Jesus to change his/her heart, mind and soul, from the inside out. The pharisee doesn't think they have a problem. They have a tendency to justify their judgmental attitude and normally don't see any problem with it (but they DO see the problem with others).
That, by the way, was an excellent question.
One thing about the message: I felt like I didn't communicate the point in the 1st service that I wasn't preaching AT them but rather I was talking about something that God has revealed inside of MY heart. As always, if the shoe fits you should wear it, but know that I'm wearing one just like it
I was very encouraged by the number of you who expressed to me that you did some "house cleaning" after the message. I pray that all who were moved will follow through on the decisions that we made.
We're completing our Christmas stage this weekend! This is going to be one of the most incredible Christmases you've ever been part of at hyde park!
Anyone interested in being part of our Christmas Worship Choir should be at rehearsal Wednesday nite at 8pm!!!!

Have a great week!

Sunday Nite (on a Monday Afternoon)

2009-11-23T18:09:21-05:00

I know that I begin most Sunday nite recaps by saying something like, "Today was so amazing" - at the risk I won't say it again (even if it was ):

Pastor finished up the "Be Free" Series yesterday. Good stuff as we worked our way through the book of Galatians.
One of the cool things about going through a book is that when you hit on a subject that some don't like they can't accuse you of picking a scripture with an agenda in mind.
I love what Perry Noble said in his post today: If everybody likes you then you’ve spent way too much time kissing rear ends instead of being faithful to who God has called you to be and what He has called you to do!
Galatians 5:15 (in the NIV) states, "If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other". As Pastor broke that down he made this statement: when the church fights and bites at each other we are literally eating ourselves. This in itself is often the major problem in congregations, disunity that doesn't see each other as an extension of one-another, but rather, as separate beings. In Christ we are to be one.
I, for one, continue to be thankful to be part of a congregation that "gets" this.
Pastor spent the majority of the message demonstrating what spiritual community looks like. I would love to see us take that concept even deeper, applying it at a more life-on-life, in home (and the community) approach. Maybe Pastor was planting a seed for some of that.
He also pointed out that one of the key elements of a worship experience is confession - do you think of that often? Is there a time during worship where you do that? I think we should do that more, don't you?
We were blessed and pleased today to see that we filled up the Operation Christmas Child Semi-trailer! What a great ministry OCC is - we are so thankful to join arms with Samaritan's Purse in this endeavor. As Carole said, "this shoebox is the easiest way to share the gospel of Jesus with our world".
The Worship Choir was rockin' yesterday morning with some new members - so excited to see enthusiasm throughout that group! Anyone interested in singing with us for the Christmas Season (and beyond) can download our music here. All of you are welcome to join us Wednesday Nites at 8pm in the Auditorium...
...that is EXCEPT THIS WEDNESDAY - we will have no services Wednesday Nite due to the Thanksgiving break.
AND SPEAKING OF HYDE PARK WORSHIP: this weekend we will have a special time of worship as we welcome the Recording Group, "Sisters" to Hyde Park this Sunday morning during both our 9am and our 10:30 am services. The group is made up of sisters, Kim Lord, Heather Day, and Valerie Ellenburg. Back in the day Kim, Heather and Valerie were members of their family group, the Ruppes, as well as currently being members of the group, "LordSong" with Kim's husband, Michael. We're looking forward to a special time of worship this Sunday.
Our worship Sunday was kind of a dual-service approach: 1st service was, "Our God Saves" (Baloche), At Calvary (Hymn - G3 arrangement) and "Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone)". 2nd Service: "Our God Saves", "Let God Arise" (Tomlin) and "Came to My Rescue" (Hillsong). I liked the dual approach and feel that we might do this more after the 1st of the year.

I hope that you all have an amazing Thanksgiving - still praying that God will open your eyes as to ways that YOU can give-thanks through a practical application. My love to you all.

Christmas 2009 iMix

2009-11-17T14:18:04-05:00

Christmas is right around the corner and we are in preparation mode - here are some songs that we will be singing this Christmas at hyde park. Download them to your iTunes and get ready for an amazing Christmas:

Christmas Night of Worship - Sunday Evening, December 20th at 6pm

Here's some of last years music (some of these might pop-up this Christmas as well):

Sunday Nite

2009-11-15T22:00:00-05:00

Were you there?

We had a great day at hyde park - so much to celebrate. Short Sunday afternoon nap out of the way - another one probably on the way, a little football - good times. Here's what's on my mind tonite:

All glory to our God for His provision of the Word this morning. This has been a pretty crazy week for me - 3 days out of town (Mon-Weds), a Saturday morning conference among other things. With all that in mind, GOD has been good to me, speaking so much in preparation in a way that made preparation easier than some other messages. I am blown-away by the way that God provides for His own!
Pastor Dennis was in FAITHTrac 101 this morning whom I joined (along with my family) for lunch. Pastor asked me, "so how did it go?". My answer: we had a SMASHING good time.
If you don't get that it's because you weren't there. If you missed the message you can listen to it here - listen real carefully because YOU may get "smashed"
Action + Attitude = Worship Decide to put action to your thankfulness for God's glory.
Extra prayer thrown up this morning as I prayed that God would remove the spiritual barriers that keep people from grasping the depths of God's word. I felt as if the Lord gave me grace to deliver the message by the power of His Spirit.
So many people responded to today's message in brokenness. Many, many more, however, walked out the door like the 9 lepers from this morning's scripture - receiving the blessing but not responding in an adequate way.
The breaking of "my box": I had no plans to act that out today, had not even thought of it but when I awoke this morning breaking "the flask" was on my mind. Always remember that A visual is worth a thousand words - driving home the message in a powerful way.
you should have seen me looking through the cabinets this morning looking for a "flask" that I could destroy (without getting in trouble with Keyna).
So thankful for hyde park worship. Rhonda did an amazing job leading us to the throne of grace through music this morning.
Music today: Blessed Be Your Name (Matt Redman), Glory (Hillsong), Worthy is the Lamb (Hillsong), The Power of Your Love.
We had the privilege of baptizing 10 new believers this morning! What a privilege it is to share in the baptism of friends whose lives are being changed by the Lord Jesus.
For those of you who were judging my friend Richard as I told you the story about his "rough edges", I just want to point out that he is one of the most brilliant people I have EVER MET, his personal knowledge of the scriptures is amazing. He is probably also much deeper theologically than you . He totally makes my head hurt talking to him!
Really enjoyed meeting all the new people today (as always). If they were friends of yours, please mention that to them.
Had a huge UNCP crowd this morning! Love it when the college students are in our midst. God is doing a great work through these young people there.
We were sorry to hear of the UNCP Football loss yesterday in the NCAA playoffs. Great, great season though fellas - so proud of our coaches and team.
When I got home today I thought to myself, it's amazing that I get to do this! Just doesn't get old to see Jesus at work, challenging people and changing lives.

I close by saying that God is STILL doing amazing things at hyde park. Yes, we are in a time of transition - we are less than 4 months away from the retirement of our Pastor of 25 years. Yes, there are people who have chosen to jump to conclusions about the direction of our church - it's a weird time for those of us who are "in the know". I purposely choose not to mention it much because it is my desire to stay out of all of it for obvious reasons. God is STILL doing amazing things in our midst, maybe you just gotta know where to look.

I challenge you all to keep your eyes open this week for the opportunity to be a person who "gives thanks". Much love to all of you.

FRIDAY!!!

2009-11-13T10:22:31-05:00

Do you know how long it's been since we've had an "A.D.D." driven Friday post... guess what?

it Friday, the Starbucks Gold Coast Blend is rockin', my mind is spinning all around with ideas, excitement about the weekend, it's KICKIN'!!! Here are a couple of things I wanted to share:

This weekend is gonna be off the chain! We are looking for a great service as we together look at "Luke's Thanksgiving Quiz" - I wonder if you've ever noticed it before?
We're looking forward to sharing in the great celebration of baptism this weekend. Have you been baptized SINCE you believed? If not, there is still time for you to take part in this weekend's baptism service. If you would like to be part let me know.
For all of my new attendee friends at hyde park, make sure that you're signed up to be part of our New Attenders Class, FAITHTrac 101 this weekend at 9am. If you aren't signed up you can sign up here. FAITHTrac 301 (the 3rd installment) also meets this Sunday at 9am. Lunch is provided for you and your whole family after the classes are over. I look forward to eating with ya'll!
We're still accepting new members of the hyde park worship choir. As we gear up to Christmas we are looking to add some new faces as well as welcome some recognizable ones as well. If you are interested in singing with the worship choir join us this coming Wednesday nite at 8:15 in the auditorium.
In the same way, if you are a musician and I don't know it I SHOULD. I would love to meet you.

Love you guys and look forward to worshiping with you Sunday!!!!